PROJECT: Briles 200 - Can Briles Come Out And Play?

I'm a horrible self motivator, kids....

...unless it's for watching tv/movies/sports, eating, drinking, doing absolutely nothing, fantasizing about being in the "Community" study group, or especially for going to hang out with friends and doing one and/or all of those things.  

(Move over Evangeline Lilly...  I'm now officially pretending that either Gillian Jacobs or/and Allison Brie have agreed to make out with me as a reward for completing P:B200 a success! PS. Watch Community!!)

After six months of PROJECT: Briles 200, I've lost 15 lbs and have gotten stronger, solely by adding one 30 minute weight training session per week at Cutting Edge Fitness and making some better decisions with my eating choices.  However, I knew going into this that it was really my activity level that I was going to have to bring up to make P:B200 a success.  As we all know, regular activity is the majorest factor in living a healthier lifestyle.  I go to Cutting Edge, I head out for a jog here and there, and I've been typing with my fingers a lot more with this blog, so there's that...   But to get down to 200 lbs, I need to get out and play more.  

The biggest obstacles in doing so is that I don't have any activities that I LOVE doing.  I get bored really easily and like trying new things, so I have trouble getting out there and doing them on my own.   I'm also one of those crazy people who thinks having fun is way more fun than exercising and hard work.  My brain has an aversion to choosing a workout on my own over great television, working on photos, or especially any social invite that comes my way.  It's like I have an addiction to socializing and I find that I have a good time doing anything when in good company.  It would be great to get active in a social setting.   Unfortunately, most of the time when I meet up with people, there isn't a whole lot calorie burning going on.   In fact, it's usually the EXTREME opposite.  That's gotta change if I'm going to get healthier!  

I was hoping to roll this plan out during the summer, but the new job crunched down on my time.  Now that I'm settling in a bit, I'm ready to start adding a new phase to the blog and his is where I'm hoping to get/NEED your help!  I'm hoping to build a community of "play dates" to keep me active while I search for the one or two activities that I'd like enough that I could do them on my own for regular exercise.  

Since I've got this whole weird having fun issue and I like hanging out with people, I'm hoping that I can get a bunch of you to invite me to "come out and play" and participate in whatever your favorite activities are.  YOU = Family, old friends, new friends, strangers, stalkers...  ACTIVITIES = Whatever burns calories more than sitting on my ass!  Running, basketball, hiking, ultimate frisbee, horseshoes, tennis, golf, crazy long Guitar Hero session, parkour, squash, chasing chickens around a farm...  I'm game for anything!

Are you a Yogi?  Let's stretch!   Is your daughter having a double-dutch tournament?  CrissBriles will make ya, jump! jump!   Is there a kickball game happening in your neighborhood?  Don't pick me last!  Are you teaching a pilates class?  Teach me what the hell pilates even are!...What pilates is??...What they ARE!?...  I guess I'm also looking for a grammar coach!    

If  you'd like to help me out and think we'd have a good time doing your activity, talk to me in the comments section of this blog or friend my Briles is Losing It page on Facebook and we'll set something up.  I will be writing about my play dates" and I'm also hoping to capture some of these adventures on video as I'm sure some of them, especially the one's I've never tried before, will be quite amusing.  

Unfortunately, I'm restricted to activity partners in the New England area at the moment, but I know some of you are reading from afar.  If you've got something you'd like to suggest, by all means, throw it out there and we'll see if we can't get it together sometime in the future.  So let's have some fun and help me get to my imaginary reward make out session with the girls from "Community" and more importantly get closer to making PROJECT:Briles 200 a reality.  Troy and Abed would!

PS.  I'm leaving you with a video demonstrating the natural grace, amazing agility, and raw athleticism you will be recruiting to partake in your activities!

Yup... Still Babbling...

6 months already, Kids!  

Yup, as October 1 rolled by, I’ve kept this blog thing going for a full 6 months!  That may mean diddly to you, but I consider it pretty impressive when taking into account the history of past projects I’ve tried taking on...   

...My screenplay “Anything For Money” (a comedy about a guy who starts a phone and cyber sex business in his dorm) that I got halfway through for my Film Writing class back at The Cuse.  We only HAD to write half of a movie as a final project...  thus why only half got done (If only the assignment had been for a FULL script!!...  Damn, you, Evan Smith!!)  I REALLY planned on finishing it.  I REALLY ended up not...  I graduated school and moved back to my parents’ house for the summer where after writing maybe two new pages, I, ironically, became distracted by a three month, long distance, love affair, consisting mostly of phone and cyber sex... on dial up...   with a now well published young adult novelist.     

...My painting; “Sunset Field... With Tree”.  Back when I lived in California, I went into a Michael’s Arts and Crafts Store with my girlfriend at the time.  As she shopped for school supplies, a bolt of inspiration struck me and gave me a crazy notion that I wanted to make a painting (that bolt of inspiration being some sort of huge sale on painting supplies).   The thing started off pretty well for someone with no painting knowledge or training whatsoever, then I decided to put a damn tree into the painting...  The tree was SO bad....  It just killed all inspiration to finish...

...The birthday photo collage I was making for my ex-wife. Well...  I guess the term “ex-wife” might explain that one... 


I guess you could call me easily distracted...  I think I've mentioned before that I may have ADD...

Long blog, short, I’m pretty proud I’ve kept this thing up with at least SOME consistency (yes, I'm counting 1 or 2 a month as 'consistent'), especially in the face of all the the life changes that affected so many of the big plans I had for this blog (and PROJECT: Briles 200).  This whole thing started back in April when I had a job that gave me a TON of opportunity to think about, ponder, meditate on, etc things or event write, work on pictures, etc while holding that job.  I rode the Red Line T into the city every day (that I went in) to work at a hotel.  There was a ton of time off due to slow business and when there was business, there was a lot of down time throughout the day.   Also, a lot of the work I did do for the hotel could be done with my thoughts traveling elsewhere. 

That was a LOT of new stimuli every day!  Different people coming in and out of the hotel, different smells/sights/sounds on the T, lots of games of “OhHi” eyes with the ladies, oodles of time to think....    Sure, you see some of the same people from time to time, but for the most part, you’re always getting a different show on the T or at the hotel.  Every day shoved new experiences and new possibilities my way keeping me inspired, my senses tingling and my imagination brimming (see below).

A month and half after starting the new job, I found myself somewhere that barely lets me think about half of the things I need to actually worry about in the job, never mind my life and any of the extras outside of the job (such as this blog, my health, taking pictures) that I’d like to have go along with it.  Now, I have to drive the same 45 minute route to and from work every day with no people watching/funny smells/interesting conversations to experience.  I see mostly the same people everyday.  There are times when I get to new meet new people coming in to check out the property, but that interaction is pretty limited compared to what I’m used to.  I really don’t have a minute to myself all day, aside from my hour lunch, which is where I write this for you now.  It’s a tough pill for the creative mind to swallow.     

Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy what I’m doing.  I actually do quite a bit... especially combined with the fact that I don’t have to collect unemployment two weeks out of every month (the main motivator for switching over to property management vs. event technology).  It just doesn’t lend itself to heading in the creative directions I had planned back in April, which is a major adjustment.  Major adjustments when I have actual plans aren’t my strong suit, thus, my excitement that I’ve been at least SOMEWHAT consistent in keeping this train on the tracks.  I have no delusions of grandeur that this is the greatest, most interesting blog by any means.  It doesn’t even come CLOSE to what I wanted to do with it back in April, but it’s still going and I’m counting that as a success for me.  

So, for all of you who've read and especially those who keep reading, thanks for hanging with me!